Welcome to the April enewsletter |
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Native Plants for NSW – April 2021
The monthly enewsletter of the Australian Plants Society NSW |
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Actinotus forsythii mass flowering in the Blue Mountains (photo: Harry Loots) |
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In our April issue
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Welcome to the enewsletter
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From the President Quarterly gathering and AGM – 15 May Activities – meetings, walks and plant sales A mass attraction – pink flannel flowers -
In flower in February at Manly Dam
Meet a member – Jennifer McLean Harry's garden on Gardening Australia -
Propagation notes
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Study Group updates: Eremophila, Grevillea and Wallum Research opportunities - On the APS NSW website.
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Welcome to the enewsletter
Just in time for the Easter break, our April enewsletter has lots to read and watch, with several contributions from Northern Beaches Group. Please check that fellow members are receiving the enewsletter and remember each issue is also saved as a pdf file here. As new members join every month, some information is repeated in each issue. Stories, photos, events and feedback are welcome. Please email the editor Rhonda Daniels at enewsletter@austplants.com.au |
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From the President John Aitken
On behalf of APS NSW, I extend our sympathies to all those members, their families and friends who were affected by the terrible floods that have swept NSW. It was heartbreaking to see the devastation caused to so many people living in the affected areas. A heartfelt thank you to Peter Olde for his comprehensive and interesting talk on new and old Grevillea hybrids at our March quarterly gathering held on Zoom. A round of applause to the 64 people who attended for persevering in spite of the problems from the poor internet connection. Peter provided a wealth of information about Grevillea hybrids and the many people involved in their development. Watch it on YouTube here. With the easing of Covid restrictions, our next quarterly meeting is on Saturday 15 May at Kurnell, hosted by Sutherland Group. Our short AGM will be held with the gathering. Details below. Strategic plan In March, the board met to formulate a draft strategic plan for the Society for the next three years, which includes both the state office and district groups. We discussed and analysed our current situation, and future opportunities and challenges. We plan to meet and consult with Group presidents or their representatives later in the year to ensure ownership by all groups of the new plan for the growth and relevance of the Society in an ever changing world. Read more here. |
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Activities – May quarterly gathering and AGM
Saturday 15 May
9 am to 12 noon: Banks–Solander walk, Kamay National Park
Meet at the Kurnell Visitor Centre, Kamay National Park for guided walks beginning between 9–10 am along the Banks–Solander track. This well-maintained track is an easy 700 m walk featuring many of the plants collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during their eight day visit to Botany Bay in April 1770. Take a virtual tour of the Banks–Solander track on Google Street View Trekker
12 noon to 1 pm: Lunch. Bring your own and enjoy it on the foreshore of Botany Bay (great for plane spotters). Food can be purchased at Kurnell Visitor Centre (limited), Silver Beach Cafe and Milkhouse Kurnell.
1 – 3 pm: Marton Community Hall, 92–94 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell. Hall open from 12.30 pm. $5 entry fee covers afternoon tea and associated costs.
1 – 1.30 pm: APS NSW Annual General Meeting. Details below.
1.30 – 3 pm: Talk by Dan Clarke on the plants that Banks and Solander collected and described during their visit to Botany Bay in 1770. Dan is a well-known environmental consultant and the APS NSW Conservation Officer. Dan is a very entertaining speaker with an extensive knowledge of the flora of the Kamay National Park and surrounds.
2.30 pm: Afternoon tea provided by Sutherland Group. Details here. |
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AGM – Saturday 15 May, Kurnell
Our AGM will be held 1–1.30 pm at Marton Community Hall, 92–94 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell.
The agenda including the minutes from the previous AGM is available here.
Our 2020 Annual Report is here. It summarises District Group activities – wonderful reading and a credit to the energy and dedication of the groups.
To send your apologies, please email: secretary@austplants.com.au
Please email any financial questions by Wednesday 12 May, and we will provide responses at the AGM.
Nominations for board positions
We welcome new board members to assist with the strategic and operational activities of running our organisation. If you'd like to join the board (or Council as it is officially termed) or wish to nominate someone, please contact President John Aitken to discuss what's involved. The form here needs to be completed and returned by Saturday 1 May 2021.
Proxy voting
If you cannot attend the AGM, and would like to nominate a proxy for your vote, please complete the Proxy form here and return by Thursday 13 May 2021 to secretary@austplants.com.au |
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Activities – meetings, plant sales and walks
Across all our APS groups, there are various approaches to meetings early this year – some in person and some by Zoom. Please check the calendar on the website here for details and be prepared for changes.
Friday 9 April – Going native in the urban landscape with David Bambridge, North Shore Group
We will also have a short plant ID session. From 7.45 pm for 8 pm start. Please email paulandsuefreddo@bigpond.com for the Zoom link.
The March talk by David Roberts on plant photography tips was well received – lots of common sense and not too technical. Watch it on YouTube here.
Friday 9 April – Royal Easter Show Look out for the entries in the Australian natives competition. Several groups participate each year with individual specimens and colourful floral displays like the grevilleas in the photo below from 2019.
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Saturday and Sunday, 10–11 April – Collectors' Plant Fair at Clarendon
This popular event with many plant sellers is back in 2021. Details and ticket sales here.
Monday 19 April – Walk at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden on wildlife
Be guided by members of North Shore Group to see and learn about native plants. The walk-only session is free and no prior knowledge is required. Walks are easy to medium, from 10 am to about 12 noon. Meet at 9.45 am Caley's Pavilion. Please book your place by the Saturday before the walk with Wendy Grimm at wagrimm@tpg.com.au or phone 0419 323 035.
1–2 May and 8–9 May – Open days and plant sales at Illawarra Grevillea Park at Bulli
Saturday 15 May – APS NSW quarterly gathering at Kurnell
Sutherland Group is hosting this physical meeting at Kurnell. Details above.
Monday 24 May – Walk at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden on bush foods and fibres
Booking details as above. Join the walkers in the photo below. |
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A mass attraction – pink flannel flowers
They have been a media sensation, a boon to the Blue Mountains tourist industry and have kindled a passion for Australian wildflowers. Articles have been written in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian and the Guardian. Who could have predicted such a floral bonanza 12 months after devastating fires that razed the bush? Harry Loots from Northern Beaches Group reports on an excursion to the Blue Mountains to see the mass attraction of the summer flowering pink flannel flowers, Actinotus forsythii, originally posted on Facebook. Read more here with photos. |
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Up close to pink flannel flowers
Lisa Godden from Sutherland Group is also fascinated with the pink flannel flower, Actinotus forsythii. Her photo of one in her garden featured in the December 2020 enewsletter, and she captured some up close photos at Mt Hay in the Blue Mountains in January. See more of her photos here. |
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In flower in February at Manly Dam
Who would have thought that so many of our wonderful native plants would be flowering in February? What a little bit of rain can do! Jan Carnes from Northern Beaches Group reports on the group's circular walk around Manly Dam.
Read more here. Photo below: Velleia lyrata by Russell Beardmore |
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Meet a member – Jennifer McLean
Jennifer is an active member of Northern Beaches Group. She explains how she became interested in Australian plants and how she has learnt more. After buying five acres with challenges of building, restoration, bush regeneration and gardening, to 'skill-up' on weeds, she enrolled at Ryde TAFE for a one term course on weed identification and control. This extended into a full two year certificate course of bush regeneration. At the course she met a number of people who were also native plant enthusiasts and who introduced her to the Australian Plants Society, which led to her first meeting of APS Northern Beaches, and involvement with Stoney Range Botanic Garden and more.
Read more here. Photo below: Jennifer's garden. |
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Harry Loots' garden on Gardening Australia
Harry Loots’ garden on the lower North Shore features on ABC TV's Gardening Australia on Friday 2 April at 7.30 pm and will be repeated the following Sunday at 1.30 pm. It can also be streamed from the ABC website or watched on iView after the first broadcast. Photo below: Harry's garden from our 2019 story here. |
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Propagation notes
Recently we received a request from a local council to use one of our 'old' brochures on propagation. It's a delightful brochure by member Ross Doig with beautiful drawings to illustrate the 'how to' of propagation and still highly relevant now.
We updated the information about APS NSW and our branding and gave permission for use. Feel free to share the brochure with members and the public. Download the 4-page pdf here. |
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Study Group updates
Explore our wide range of national Study Groups and their newsletter archives. Read how to join a group for free here. Our Study Group liaison officer Nicole Maher summarises recent newsletters.
Eremophila Study Group Newsletter 130, March 2021
The Study Group’s recent “What are you growing?” garden survey found the top species grown were E. maculata, E. glabra and E. drummondii. Cutting grown plants dominate for all three.
The feature species is Eremophila dempsteri, the Leafless Desert Fuchsia, a large shrub which grows naturally between Kalgoorlie and Esperance in WA. It can be grown in full sun or as an understorey plant, and does not need any additional water once established. It is reported to be frost hardy, and 93% of members who responded to the survey reported no pests or diseases.
Alan Lacey discusses the issues with controlled-release fertilisers for Australian native plants, which include low phosphorous content, release rate, sensitivity and susceptibility to too much nitrogen, and urea as the major source of nitrogen. Alan cautions that he had disastrous results from using a product marketed as “suitable for natives”; closer inspection of the analysis showed that 94% of N2 was from urea. He had a much better result from Osmocote Pro, a slower release fertiliser with low P and no urea.
Image below: Members contributed a photo of their Eremophila flowers in spring, grouped into letters to form the word ‘Eremophila’.
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Grevillea Study Group Newsletter 118, March 2021
Recent Study Group meetings have investigated different techniques for grafting, including a budding technique and cutting grafts. Most grafting of grevilleas has used Grevillea robusta as stock, but some species have demonstrated incompatibility with G. robusta. When looking for alternatives, it is a good idea to select stock evolutionarily closely related to scion material. For example, the spider-flowered G. semperflorens should be suitable to graft other spider-flowered species.
Member Adrian Wockner shares his technique for establishing new plants, where he digs a suitable hole, fills with water and leaves for 24 hours to drain, then adds blood and bone in the hole, adds the plant and waters at roots only. Member Jeremy Tscharke has discovered a new population of G. victoriae ssp nivalis, while fly fishing in the Big River in Victoria. Jeremy is a talented grafter, and soon propagated plants of the new find.
Wallum and Coastal Heath Study Group Newsletter 49, March 2021
Members Allan and Di Carr made good use of the COVID-19 hibernation, walking every day at the Bicentennial Bushwalks, near where they live on Bribie Island. They have now put together a new brochure for the area, and plan to offer guided bushwalks to the public. The feature plant for the newsletter is Dillwynia floribunda, Showy Parrot Pea, a small, dense shrub to about 1.5 m by 1 m. Flowers are bright yellow, usually with red central markings, and can be present from May to October, often crowded closely together on the stem. Photo below: Dillwynia floribunda (Sutherland Group) |
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Research and funding opportunities - Citizen science opportunity in northern NSW: help identify what plants rainbow lorikeets are feeding on. Read more here.
- Apply now for Friends of Grasslands 2021 Grassy Ecosystems grants. Read more here.
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On the APS NSW website
Our website has our membership benefits, how to join, District Group details, and resources including our ever-expanding plant profile database. Members get a membership renewal email and can also renew online here. The form in Australian Plants is for the journal only. Recent stories include: |
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Dampiera stricta at Manly Dam (photo: Russell Beardmore)
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